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21 Responses to “Biblical misconception 10: the meaning of the phrase ‘Son of God’.”

This is really helpful.However, I once heard a student of theology say that sonship in the Hebrew meaning also means “same in essence or substance as the father” thus when we say Jesus as Son of God is the same in essence or substance with God. Is this correct?

The idea of sonship can carry the idea of similar attitude or characteristic, like ‘sons of the light’ – i.e. righteous – but I don’t know about the word carrying the meaning of ‘identical ontology’. Perhaps it does, but I’m not in that deep yet!

Have you ever wondered – did I put this in the post? – how Jesus (Emmanuel, the child born of a young (virgin) woman in Isaiah 9) is called ‘Eternal Father’? It doesn’t mean Jesus is the Father. As I understand it, it’s better translated ‘father of eternity’; that is, he possesses or owns eternity. As only God possesses that, it’s an evidence for Jesus’ deity!

Bad figure of speech, John; possibly I was getting jittery for some more coffee and I just wrote down the phrase – I’m sure I heard it elsewhere. I mean that God is eternal. Would have been easier to write that, but when your brain is telling you to hurry and finish, you don’t think as sharply.

IT SIMPLY MEANS ‘GOD BORN AS MAN’ WITHOUT LOSING HIS IDENTITY AS GOD AND IDENTIFYING WITH MAN IN EVERYTHING EXCEPT SIN. THAT IS WHY HE IS REFERRED TO AS SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN AT THE SAME TIME. TO BE BORN OF GOD IS TO BE ‘SON’ TO BE BORN OF A WOMAN IS TO BE ‘SON’ AS WELL. ADAM WAS NEVER CALLED A SON TO ANYONE SINCE HE WASN’T GIVEN BIRTH BY ANYONE. SINCE HE WAS CREATED BY GOD YOU CANNOT CALL HIM SON OF GOD. SINCE JESUS WAS NOT THE CREATION OF GOD, BUT GOD HIMSELF BECOMING THE TOTAL MAN HE IS REFERRED AS ‘BEGOTTEN’.
WE MAY IMAGINE THAT GOD REDUCED HIMSELF TO A ‘ZYGOTE’ TO BE IMPLANTED IN THE WOMB OF MARY TO TAKE BIRTH FOR HIMSELF TO BE CRUCIFIED FOR OUR SALVATION. WHY DID HE BECOME A CHILD AND NOT COME AS AN ADULT, AS ADAM HIMSELF WAS FORMED AN ADULT? GOD WANTED TO TOUCH AND CLEANSE THE VERY PLACE WHERE SIN ORIGINATES. LET US NOT FURTHER COMPLICATE THE SONSHIP OF GOD BY UNLOGICAL HIGH-LEVEL DISCUSSIONS.

SINCE, THE BLOOD-STREAM
OF JESUS CHRIST COMES FROM GOD
HIMSELF AND NOT FORMED BY THE FUSION
OF THE SINFUL HUMAN SEED AND EGG
AND IT IS THE SHEDDING OF THAT BLOOD
WHICH GRANTS REMISSION OF THE SINS TO
MANKIND AND NOT ANY BLOOD OF HUMAN
LINEAGE.

No it does not simply mean “God born as a man”. It had many different meanings one of which was a righteous man. Read the different gospels and you will see the different understandings of the phrase. Your interpretation is based on the “trinity” concept of Origin. The word is used many times in the bible. Even in Genesis it says the “sons of God” married the daughters of men. Did that also mean God incarnated multiple times and married the daughters of men? And Jesus’s blood stream did not come from God but from Mary. Should we believe God has a blood stream? Blood streams are the attributes of created animals including the thinking ones. Blood streams are systems that pump blood from the heart to the brain. The popular trinitarian interpretation of God has more in common with Greek mythology than with Israelite theology.

I was responding to Jesus’s blood being from God and not from sinful man. Check the above post(#4). To imply that Jesus’s blood comes from God implies that God has a blood stream and has a bloodline or at least some form of a chemical composition. The comparison with man’s sinful blood stream passed from parent to child is implied in the above statement.
I agree that the title” Son of God” was used for kings secularly but it was also used for servants of god spiritually. No complication!!! I actually agree with your line of reasoning.( But not limited to.)
Not in a this or that way but in a this and that way. All of israel was considered God’s son. See these other passages.
It is used to denote a human judge or ruler (Psalm 82:6, “children of the Most High”; in many passages “gods” and “judges” can seem to be equations). In a more specialized sense, “son of God” is a title applied only to the real king over Israel (II Samuel 7:14, with reference to King David and those of his descendants who carried on his dynasty; comp. Psalm 89:27-28).
Israel as a people is called God’s “son”, using the singular form (comp. Exodus 4:22 and Hosea 11:1).
Ephraim as a tribe (Jeremiah 31:8)
In Judaism the term “son of God” was used of the expected “Jewish mashiach” figure.[8] Psalm 2 addresses someone as both God’s messiah (anointed king) and God’s son.

In the Jewish literature that was not finally accepted as part of the Hebrew Bible, but that many Christians do accept as Scripture (see Deuterocanonical books), there are passages in which the title “son of God” is given to the anointed person or Mashiach (see Enoch, 55:2; IV Esdras 7:28-29; 13:32, 37, 52; 14:9). The title belongs also to any one whose piety has placed him in a filial relation to God (see Wisdom 2:13, 16, 18; 5:5, where “the sons of God” are identical with “the saints”; comp. Ecclesiasticus [Sirach] iv. 10).

It has been speculated that it was because of the frequent use of these books by the Early Christians in polemics with Jews, that the Sanhedrin at Yavneh rejected them around 80 CE.

In the Jewish interpretation of the Gospels, the being of Jesus as “son of God” corresponds to the typical Hasid from Galilee, a “pious” holy man that by divine intervention performs miracles and exorcisms,[9][10].
Go here for more info:http://www.answers.com/topic/son-of-god
peace!!

forgot to give my website sorry , here it is, Ive done a programme on the trinity…do go and have a look. The ‘son of God’ language applies to many individuals ..angels humans etc but uniquely and powerfully to jeus the monogenes son of Godhttp://www.youtube.com/profile?user=reachout#g/u

Very very thanks for your definision….I read many articles,webs and books related with this terminology but every time my confusion became increased..But… when i read this article ….I got a clear idea…that definision reveals a lot of other situations in the gospels(eg. John 18:33_37, Lk 23:2_3 ) . I think your way is very near to the path of truth….and your under standing is good
….G_d bless you brother

it has been helpful for me to understand the term ‘son’ as meaning ‘having the same nature of ‘. son of God means someone having the same nature of God. This is qualified in Jn 3:16 as ‘only begotten Son’. Three things emerge from these three words:

(a) : He is the ‘only’ which means he is unique. There cannot be any other ‘exact representation of God’s being’ as unique as Jesus.

(b) He is ‘Begotten’ not made! The word begotten is a very special word. Like begets like. A squirrel begets a squirrel which again indicates ‘Having the same nature of’ Therefore when God begets you get a person who is of the same nature of God! So Jesus could make the statement ‘I and my Father are one’. ‘One’ points to a mathematical unity. Theologically put the Son is the eternal generation of the father!

(c) Son is not biological but theological. Unfortunately our friends from the Islamic Faith normally understands ‘Son’ in physical-biological-reproductive terms. A similar usage is ‘Sons of thunder’. In a special sense we all are also sons of God sharing some of the divine qualities although in a finite level because we are made in the image of God.But Son with capital S is Jesus!

@biju> I understand clearly the concept of sonship according to Christian theologians but that has nothing to do with ancient Isrealite understanding of sonship. The council of Nicea( A.D. 325) had a similar discussion to our post. They were all Christians. The idea that Jesus and God not being of the same nature did not originate with Islam or Muslims. Christians were disputing the same topic. Because Jesus being the same nature as God is not said in the text. But interpreted into the text to support the idea of the “Trinity”. In fact the God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit verse is not in the original text but was a later addition. Check the history of the verse. Also we should not dicotimize the disussion by labeling certain things as Islamic or Christian lets just consult the text. Actually many Muslims understand spiritual speach very well and spiritual speach moves beyond biology. The idea of a man having the nature of God is not unique to Christianity its actually a very old idea especially in places like India. But instead of you or i speaking for Jesus. Lets hear what he said himself when asked a direct question about his theological views. (John 10:25-39) When Jesus said ” I and the Father are one” the Jews picked up stones to kill him. Then he says,” for which of my good works do you stone me” they said it was not for good works but because he blasphemed by saying that he was God. Instead of saying yes i am the unique son of God he says,” Does it not say in scripture ye are ALL Gods”( Beni-Elohim). He did not say he meant it in any way like they interpreted it. He was simply stating that he was consecrated by God and sent( prophet and messenger one sent) into the world. God said he would make his will known thru his prophets(Amos 3:7). In John15:15 hear what he says about him learning from God and revealing it to his disciples. How can they be of the exact same nature and one needs to learn from the other. Jesus did not know when the day of judgment was but he sais God knew(Matt. 24:35-37). And as for Jesus knowing it after he ascended to heaven. That is speculation to justify the belief. its interpreting on to the text it is not found in the text. So at best its not in the text and at least if you have that view you can’t be dogmatic about it. At least not textually. Peace!!

Of course Jesus is ware of his date of return after the resurrection. Scripture clearly states that in Him is hidden all the treasures of wisdom (Col 2:3). Even the disciples states that he knows all things and needeth that any man should teach him.

Again Jesus was asked about the hour he said,”But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.(Matt24:35-37). Excluding himself. He could have said the son. I can’t help your indoctrination. But Jesus never claimed to be all-knowing. And as far as Jesus being God, when asked about his theology directly he says,”Does it not say in scripture that ye are all Gods”.(John10:34). And we were created in God’s image.(Gen1:27) So seeing a soul that is in the spirit of God is to see God’s image in man manifested. Again i am speaking Jesus’s own words.(RED LETTERS). And to clarify i did not say he learned scripture from men. I said,” He learned from God.” Like all other ppl God sent into the world.(John17:21, Amos3:7) And Jesus further explains the way he understood his oneness with God in the same verse. Or are you saying God can’t teach Jesus. Please let me know if you believe the One that sent Jesus with his message could not teach Jesus. We all have the light of God within us. It is when we truly become one with God’s spirit in our soul( Spiritual Marriage)…hint hint. Read Jesus’s teachings on marriage and becoming ONE. Also read on spiritual intimacy( God in You and You in God). Read also the biblical symbolism for intimacy and knowledge or to know God. Jesus said he knew God but as the others he spoke to were not on that level yet he told them to believe, which is the beginning.The symbolism is consistent and clear. It’s only when you try to overlap the teachings with man-made ideas like the “Trinity” that you have to go through such mental acrobatics. Being one with God is not foreign to the human spiritual nature and path accept to those who are not educated as to the purpose of scripture and religious or spiritual teachings. We were all meant to be like God.(Matt 5:48 and Levi,19:2) This post is in response to both of your posts. Peace!!

@biju All-knowing and knowing some things are not the same nature. Jesus saying he was one with God is not unique. Check what many enlightened teachers of the past have said. The phrase i am one with God was used many times. It was a declaration of that persons spiritual marraige to God. When someone is married they are one. God creating man in his image and likeness is speaking of the very nature of what God made when he made man. The word in hebrew is Elohim( God) and tzelem( image) it is when you imprint or put something of yourself into a thing. Jesus even says we must be like our father in heaven. In that likeness and oneness with God is the fulfillment of the path of spirituality. Jesus was an example of someone who was one with God. We should all aspire to be the same. When we do we will be able to say,” We are in God and God is in us”. Peace!!

Adib,
Scripture clearly shows Jesus possess the very nature of God. Haven’t you read Heb 1:3a – And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. (Heb 1:3 NAS)
Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, Show us the Father ?

I just happened to see this discussion on Jesus title as ‘Son of God’. In fact it is aimed at questioning the belief of Trinity in Christianity. It is very vivid in Adib Sharief’s responses above. The teaching of Trinity is not based upon a phrase in the Bible. It is in the essence of Bible. That is why my friends has to go to references in the Bible to prove it.

Recently I got a testimony from an Imam converted to Christianity. As this former Imam did I encourage Adib and all other sincere believers of Islam to go back to Koran and know who Jesus. Let me copy the what he found from Koran. My only intention is to help you in your attempt to find who Jesus of the Bible is and to find salvation through Jesus. If any of you misunderstand it otherwise, please forgive me. I love and respect your right to disagree.

“While I was working in a Muslim mosque as an imam, as a parish priest, I preach in my parish that Jesus Christ is not God, for me, God was only Allah, and I believed Allah never got married, so no sons for Allah. So I preached there that Jesus is not God. Then somebody ask me, who is Jesus?’’ from the crowd. Maybe a Muslim, but he asked me, who is Jesus?’’ I was preaching he is not God, but the question is who is he? To know who is Jesus? I read the entire Koran once again: 114 chapters, 6666 in the Koran when I read it, the name of Prophet Muhammad. I found it in Koran 4 places, but the name of Jesus I found in 25 places. There itself, I was a little confused. Why does the Koran give more preference to Jesus? And second thing, I could not see any woman’s name in Koran: the Prophet Muhammad’s mother’s name, or wife’s name, no, in the Koran, there is only one woman’s name that i found is Mariam, the mother of Jesus no other woman’s name. And in the holy Koran chapter 3, the name of the chapter is family of Mariam,’’ and holy Koran chapter 19, the name of the chapter itself is ‘’MARIAM’’ one chapter is ‘’MARIAM’’ so I was very curious to know why does Koran says all these things about MARIAM, holy Koran chapter 3 verse 34 onwards says that Mary was born without original sin, she never committed any sin in her life, she was ever virgin.
Koran chapter 50 verses 23 say that she went to heaven with her physical body. Even the assumption is writing in the holy Koran and then about Jesus, when I read chapter 3 verses 45 to 55 verses, there is 10 point which the Koran makes about Jesus. The first thing Koran says (kallimatulli) the arabic word which means ‘’the of God’’ and second thing is ( ahimokuli ) which mean spirit of God and the third (isa masi) which means Jesus Christ so Koran give the name for Jesus WORD OF GOD, SPIRIT OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST. And then Koran says that Jesus spoke when he was very small, like 2 days old. After his birth he began to speak, Koran says that Jesus created a live bird with mud. He took some mud, he formed a bird; when breathed into it, it became a live bird. So I think Jesus can give life because he gave life to mud, clay, and then Koran says that Jesus cured a man born blind and a man with leprosy, e.t.c
Curiously, the Koran says that Jesus gave life to dead people; Jesus went to heaven; he is still alive and he will come again. When I saw all these things in the Koran I taught of what Koran says about Muhammad, according to the Koran, prophet Muhammad is not the word of God, not spirit of God he never spoke when he was 2 days old, he never created any bird with mud, he never cure any sick people, he never raised any dead people, he himself died, and according to Islam he is not alive and he will not come back. So there is a lot of different between these two prophets. I didn’t call Jesus, God, you know my idea was ‘’He is a prophet but he is a prophet greater than Muhammad; so one day I went to my teacher, the one who taught me 10 years in Arabic college, and I ask him, teacher, how did God created the universe? Then he said God created the universe through the word,’’ THROUGH THE WORD. Then my question is: ‘’WORD’’ is creator or creation? He must clear this, my question is whether the WORD of God is creator or creation. Koran says Jesus is WORD of God. If my teacher says word of God is creator, which means Jesus is the creator, then Muslim must become Christian suppose if he says the word is creation he will be trapped. You know why? He said everything was created through the word. Suppose if he said the word is creation, then how did God created the word? So he cannot say that the word is creator, or creation, so he was quite angry he push me out of his room and said word is not God, not creator or the creation you get out of here, ‘’he said
The reason why Muslim doesn’t accept to be Christian is because they are blinded with the wrong teaching of their priest, Imam. They said that the word is creation they try to prove it wrongly…… they say the word is not creator, not the creation, but not God. And no creation also. They don’t equal with God, that all their problem. So when he said that I told my teacher, word is not the creator or the creation.’’ So, that is why Christian says the word is son of God. Then he told me if there is son for God, I must show him the wife of God. That without wife no chance of having a son then I showed him a portion from the Koran. Koran says that God can see without eyes, God can talk without tongue, God can hear without ears. It is writing in the Koran. I said if that is the case, so God can have a child without a wife. I took my Koran, I put it on my chest, and I said ‘’Allah’’, tell me what I should do because your Koran says Jesus is still alive, and Mohammad is no more. Tell me whom should I accept.’’ after my prayer I opened the Koran, I didn’t asked anyone, I asked only my Allah. When I opened Koran, I saw chapter 10 verses 94. You know what Koran says? It says if you have any doubt in this Koran which I give to you, go and read the Bible, or ask the people, those who read the Bible. The truth is already revealing that.
I beg all Muslim to give their life to Christ because he is the only way to the kingdom of God. Please don’t perish like other Muslims that is serving the god they do not know. I welcome you into Christ Jesus as you change your mind to accept him today. God bless you.